Garment finishing apparatus



May 27, 194-7. G. w. JOHNSON GARMENT FINISHING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 1.4;, 1946 FIG. 3

l N w & I Y R E W m 5 M 2 0 A l E G W 3 -form, such as a canvas hot air 'is-forced to cause it to through thegarment and steam and-dry the same.

Patented May 27, 1947 (GARMENT FINISmNG'AP-PARATU'S Cincinnati, Ohio, ;assignor George ',-W. Johnson,

tog-The-American Lauri ysMach rrCompany Gincinnati; Qh'o, a corporation of Q i "Application; February 14,-1-946,'--Serial No. 647,506

(Cl..-i223. -;-73)

:3 Qlaims.

This invention relates togarment finishing ap paratus, and moreparticularly to that typ of apparatus-in which the garment to be finished is dressed upon or around-the 011tside-of a h0110tv bag, into which steam or pass outwardly Oneobject of the invention istoprovide an arrangementof this :kind inwhich either dry steam, or air, or both, -may besupplied tothe rmen Another object of-the invention is to provide garment finishing apparatus of the kind described, in which the steam supply is so arranged as to prevent any possibility of wateror moisture,

such as condensate from the steam, being delivered to ,or tupon the ganment, andthus avoiding water spots or rough dry areas upon the same.

Another object of the invention is to provide a garment finishing apparatus S-till another object is toprovide a device of thiskindin which the heaterflfor evaporating condensate, or moisture in the manner described,

also serves as the means for heating the air current. Further objects of the invention in part are obvious and in part will appear more in detail hereinafter.

In the drawings, which represent one suitable embodiment of the invention,

Fig. l is a side elevation, with parts broken away near the bottom of the device to expose interior construction;

Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view on the line 2-2, Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional elevation, on a larger scale, on the line 3-3, Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional plan view, on the line 44, Fig, 3, showing a part of the damper; and

Fig. 5 is a detail view of certain valve controlling mechanism.

The finishing device shown in the drawings comprises a suitable base It] designed to rest upon the floor or other suitable support and upon which is mounted a hollow casing H of any suitable shape in plan view, and shown as cylindrical, and the inner chamber 12 which communicates with the outlet 13 from a fan or blower l4 -.wardly through 2.1 1H! serves as avalve to control mounted-onthe base Ill and operated by a motor-l5.

"iThe upper end of the casing ll supports a .fixed sleeve or collar IE provided with a series of circumferentially spaced openings ll, cooperatingwitha similarseries of openings 18 in a sleevelike ring [9..surroundingcollar l8 and provided with anoperating handle 20 projectingoutslot 2| in the casing wall. Ring the flow of heated airas will later appear.

Mounted upon the collar I6,. and removably .heldthereto by a split clamping ring 22, is a garment support 23,-.which may be of any suitable ,form or shape, sometimes roughly the shape of th garment, such asayshirt or coat, and which is shown as a simple bag, made of porous material, such as canvas or othe fabric. The upper end of the bag issupported upon the upper end of a .post'124, the: lower end ofwhich is carried -mounted upon the top of a member 25. Mem- -ber 26 serves. both as. a heater for the air supply .andasa vaporizer for an possible water or con- .densatewhich might otherwise collect. 1 It may be by legs made of any suitable material, such. as cast iron .and,.genera1ly speaking, is ofpail or dish form, havinga basez'l secured to the base iii and inner and outer wallsv28, -29 joined at their upper ends and enclosing an annularchamberlsii surround-- --ing"the .inn er wall. 4 Chamber3l is provided with aconnection to asteam supply, as by way of the pipe or conduit 3l,and is provided with a drainage outlet pipe 32. Said chambe also communicates with a steam discharge pipe 33 provided with a valve 34 controlling the How of steam to a suitable nozzle, such as a depending pipe 35 extending downwardly along the central axis of the inner chamber 36, closed at its bottom by cap 3? and provided with a series of small openings 38 which direct jets of steam outwardly against the inner wall of member 28. The floor of chamber 36 may be provided with a central raised portion 39 adapted to cause any liquid, such as water or condensate, which falls upon it from the nozzle to flow outwardly over the floor of the chamber, and thus be more readily vaporized. The outer wall 28 is provided with heat transmitting fins Suitable means is provided for operating valve 34 such as a bell crank lever 4 I shown in Fig. 5 as having one arm lying opposite the stem 42 of valve 34, and the other arm connected by a link 43 to a foot treadle 44. When the foot treadle is depressed the valve is opened, and said foot treadle, which is normally urged upwardly toward valve closed position by a spring 45, may be releasably locked in its lower or valve open position by a latch dog 46 actuated by compression spring 47. Levers 44 and latch dog 46 are provided with foot plates 48, 49, respectively, enabling the operator to actuate them with his foot.

The apparatus described operates as follows:

Let it be assumed that a garment to be dried, such as a ladys dress, a mans shirt or coat, or any other garment, is dressed upon or over the bag form 23. Valves l9 and 34 are in closed position, but the motor I and fan I4 are in operation and steam is flowing through the supply pipe 3!. Consequently member 28 is heated.

The operator may first open valve 19 to permit the flow of air from the fan to the chamber within the bag 23. Such air becomes heated by its passage through chamber 12 and along the heating fins 40 of member 28. The bag becomes distended in the usual manner.

Now the operator depresses foot treadle 44, opening valve 34 and causing the flow of steam from chamber 39 to the nozzle 35 and thence into chamber 36 from which it flows into bag 23 and outwardly through the garment dressed upon it. During this moistening period either steam alone or both steam and hot air, may be caused to flow through the garment.

When the garment is sufiiciently moistened and the operator has straightened it out on the form, the latch dog 46 is actuated to release treadle 44 and permit valve 34 to close. Now heated air alone fioWs into the bag and through the garment, drying the same.

The steam supplied to the nozzle 35 fiOWs outwardly from its orifices in jets directed against the inner wall of member 28 and is maintained at a temperature above boiling. But, if any water is present, or if moisture is formed in the way of condensate, such water or condensate is formed in chamber 35 and falls or is directed upon the inner surface of the wall thereof, thus being vaporized. As a consequence, only dry steam, without any moisture content, is delivered to the garment.

Of course, such condensate a would have time to collect in chamber 30 drains away from it by way of pipe 32, which usually communicates with an ordinary steam trap (not shown).

The construction described is a very efficient garment finishing device and avoids any possi bility of marring the quality of the work by the production of water spots or rough dry areas.

Other advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

What I claim is:

1. Finishing apparatus of the character described, comprising a double walled dished memher having an open top central cavity within its inner wall and an annular dish shaped closed chamber between its inner and outer walls, means for circulating steam through said closed chamber, thereby to maintain said walls in heated condition, a steaming nozzle communicating with and supplied from the upper portion of said chamber and discharging into said cavity, and means for supporting a garment in distended form above said cavity, whereby steam discharged from said nozzle is delivered in dry form to the space within said garment.

2. Finishing apparatus of the character described in claim 1, in which the inner bottom wall of said member has its upper surface sloping outwardly from its center, thereby to distribute over its heated surface and promptly vaporize any moisture or liquid which otherwise might tend to collect in said cavity.

3. Finishing apparatus of the character described in claim 1, in which the heated outer wall of said member is provided with heat radiating fins, and including means for conducting a stream of drying air past said radiating fins and thence into the garment.

GEORGE \V. JOHNSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 462,585 Pittilla Nov. 3, 1891 465,129 Fry Dec. 15, 1891 483,823 Yule et al. Oct. 4, 1892 487,442 Fry Dec. 6, 1892 499,492 Yule et al. June 13, 1893 665,068 Cuming Jan. 1, 1901 1,214,846 Tracy Feb. 6, 1917 2,200,606 Raymond et a1. May 14, 1940 2,317,924 Lendle Apr. 27, 1943 2,319,434 Pungor May 18, 1943 2,338,776 Miller Jan. ll, 1944 

